Supermarket, shops, care home and apartments lined up for Clipstone Colliery site
The final phase of the regeneration of the former historic Clipstone Collery site is in the pipeline after a planning application was submitted.
The once-proud pit, off Mansfield Road, operated from 1922 to 2003 and employed 1,300 people at its peak.
Phase one of the land’s redevelopment is residential, with housebuilders HarperCrewe currently constructing 126 affordable properties for the housing association, Platform.
The second phase comprises recently approved leisure facilities, including two football pitches, a cricket ground, changing rooms and parking. Work n this will begin soon.
The site also features the privately-owned, immensely popular and award-winning visitor-attraction, Clipstone Headstocks and Raleigh Museum, based at the old pit headstocks, which are reputed to be the tallest in the world.
Now details of phase three of the regeneration have been released, with landowner, The Welbeck Estates, lodging an outline application with Newark and Sherwood District Council for “commercial-led, mixed-use development”.
The plan for the ten-acre (4.3 hectares) land, south of Mansfield Road, is for a discount supermarket, a children’s day nursery, a vet’s surgery, a drive-through coffee shop, a health and beauty service, a modern care home and assisted-living apartments for over-55s.
The application has been pieced together by Darren Ridout, who is the head of land planning, regeneration and development at Welbeck.
Planning agents for Welbeck say the new development would wrap around the western side of the imposing grade II listed headstocks, which are 200 feet high and were installed in 1953, and the adjacent powerhouse.
A planning statement, to accompany the application, describes the headstocks and powerhouse as “iconic features”.
But it stresses the new development would blend in to respect the huge structure and how it symbolises the village’s mining heritage.
It would “introduce a carefully designed mix of commercial and community uses, providing more choice and convenience for Clipstone residents”.
For example, the “modern and affordable” supermarket, shops and drive-through (all subject to market interest) would provide jobs and support economic growth”.
And the residential part of the project would “address the growing need for high-quality, purpose-built accommodation for older residents in Clipstone and the surrounding area”.
"But all the proposed buildings would be designed to ensure that the headstocks remain the dominant visual feature and gateway into Clipstone,” says the statement.
The whole scheme would bring “health and wellbeing benefits” to the area, as well as “community integration, creating a welcoming and inclusive place that serves residents of all ages and supports everyday village life”.
The statement concludes: “This proposal represents the final phase of the wider development of the former Clipstone Colliery site.
"There are multiple benefits from the development, and specific employment opportunities.”
The scheme is now being considered by the council’s planning officers, who have set a deadline date of Friday, June 26 for a decision or recommendation.
If the go-ahead is given, Welbeck would then submit a fresh application for full permission, complete with detailed drawings and plans for the project.
THE details of many planning applications can be found in public notices advertised by local and regional newspapers. To catch up on all the latest public notices, go to https://publicnoticeportal.uk/